Opening arrangement on packages

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an opening arrangement on a package consisting of a tube sealed at its ends and preferably of parallelepiped shape with double-walled triangular flaps which project from the ends of the package and are folded in against its walls, one of the flaps forming part of an opening arrangement and exhibiting a sealing strip which extends onto the top end wall of the package and which is intended to cover a discharge opening. The discharge opening is a slot formed in the upper end wall of the package which slots extends beyond the end edge of the package which adjoins the said flap, and provides a pouring edge which is constituted by an edge of the package.

United States Patent Rausing [451 Mar. 21, 1972 [72] Inventor: Hans Anders Reusing, Lund, Sweden [52] US. CL... ..229/l7, 229/51 S, 229/51 T [51] Int. Cl ..B65d 5/72 [58] Field of Search ..229/l7, 7, 22

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,725,173 11/1955 OReilly ..229/17 R 2,896,839 7/1959 Barnes et a1 ..229/17 R X 3,053,385 9/1962 Spees 229/51 WB X 3,347,444 10/1967 Rausing et a1.. ..229/l7 R 3,379,360 4/1968 Crossley ..229/22 3,416,716 12/1968 Stark et a1. ..229/7 R Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead Attorney-Norman C. Armitage and H. William Petry [5 7] ABSTRACT The invention relates to an opening arrangement on a package consisting of a tube sealed at its ends and preferably of parallelepiped shape with double-walled triangular flaps which project from the ends of the package and are folded in against its walls, one of the flaps forming part of an opening arrangement and exhibiting a sealing strip which extends onto the top end wall of the package and which is intended to cover a discharge opening. The discharge opening is a slot formed in the upper end wall of the package which slots extends beyond the end edge of the package which adjoins the said flap, and provides a pouring edge which is constituted by an edge of the package.

10 Claims, 1 Drawing lFigure OPENING ARRANGEMENT ON PACKAGES This invention relates to an opening arrangement on a package consisting of a tube sealed at its ends and preferably of parallelepiped shape with double-walled triangular flaps made in the course of the sealing operation which project from the ends of the package and are folded in against its walls, whereby one of the flaps which is folded in against a side wall forms part of the opening arrangement and exhibits a sealing strip which extends onto the top end wall of the package and which is intended to cover a discharge opening.

Quadrangular packages of this kind are used for the package of both solid, powdered or granular goods and liquids, for instance liquid dairy products. Several different proposals have been put forward for opening arrangements for such packages, and these proposals have as a rule had the aim of achieving easy-to-open opening arrangements. In spite of this, opening of the packages has been relatively difficult and comparatively complicated, and the risk ofsplash and spillage, as well as the risk of dripping down the side of the package, have been great.

The opening arrangement in accordance with the invention has also been created with the aim of achieving an easy-toopen package, but its primary object is to combine ease of opening with the possibility of pouring from the package in a compact jet directed straight ahead. In addition, this opening arrangement is very simple from the production point of view.

The opening arrangement in accordance with the invention has therefore the characteristics that the discharge opening is a slot formed in the upper end wall of the package, said slot extending beyond the end edge adjoining the flap which includes a sealing strip, said slot providing a pouring edge of the package itself.

A quadrangular package of the kind specified above is often made from a web-shaped basis material consisting of paper or of a combination of paper and a metal foil with an intermediate plastic layer. The package is produced by first forming the packaging material into a tube, after which the tube is divided into cushion-shaped packages by means of flatpressing and transverse sealing in narrow transverse zones, which packages are separated from another by a cut along the said sealing zones, filling of a package taking place between two subsequent transverse seals. The final quadrangular shape-which may, for instance, be cubical, parallelepiped with a square or rectangular cross section or consist of a package having end walls of a parallel trapezium section and square, rectangular or trapezoidal side walls-may be formed before or after the packages have been separated from one another by cuts in the transverse sealing zones. The excess material which for geometrical reasons cannot be incorporated into the package shapes specified is formed into mainly triangular double-walled corner flaps, of which those projections from the end of the package where the opening is situated are usually sealed against the side wall adjacent to the respective flap, while the flaps projecting from the bottom end of the package are usually sealed to the adjacent end wall.

The following specification describes additional characteristics and advantages of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawing the single Figure of which is a diagrammatic view, in perspective of the top part of a quadrangular package with an exemplified constructional ver sion ofthe opening arrangement in accordance with the inventron.

The quadrangular package shown in the Figure has side walls 1 and 2 and end walls 3. The end walls are traversed by fins 4 which are formed in the course of the sealing operation and which are folded down against the end walls 3. The fins 4 also extend over the four double-walled triangular flaps 5 formed during the forming operation, of which only one is shown in the Figure. The others are folded down against the respective adjacent end walls and/or side walls. The doublewalled flap 5 shown in the Figure can thus be said to exhibit a top and a bottom" wall, the top wall being a part of the end wall 3 extended by excess material and the bottom wall a part of the side wall 2 extended by excess material. Furthermore, the double-walled flap 5 is folded down against the side wall 2 in such a way that the top wall of the flap, in the fold line, forms an end edge 6 of the package. In the same way, the bottom wall forms an edge 7 situated below the end edge 6. When the double-walled flap is folded down against an end wall 3, the relationship is reversed.

The package further exhibits a discharge opening 8 which consists of a slot formed in the end wall 3 of the package. One characteristic of the invention in this connection is that the slot formed in the end wall 3 must, as shown in the Figure, extend beyond the end edge 6 of the package, i.e., that the top wall of the flap 5 is also slotted, at least partially. In this way, the fold edge 7 situated below the end edge 6 between the bottom wall of the flap and the side wall 2 will be exposed in the slot 8. Another characteristic of the opening arrangement in accordance with the invention is that the said fold edge 7 constitutes a pouring edge when the contents of the package are poured out. By virtue of the fact that this edge is used as a pouring edge, the contents of the package can be poured out in a well-directed jet and without splash and spillage. It has namely been difficult to achieve this in earlier opening arrangements which consist of a slot formed in the wall of the package.

The discharge opening 8 shown in the Figure has a generally rectangular shape and is positioned parallel to the fin 4 folded down against the end wall 3. The discharge opening 8 can have any shape that is suitable. It is preferable however if the part ofthe slot 8 situated in the flap 5 does not extend far from the end edge 6 of the package but only for such a distance that an advantageous pouring edge 7 is obtained. Furthermore, the part of the slot 8 situated in the end wall 3 should be elongated so that air can flow into the package when its contents are being poured out. It is possible however to provide a separate opening for this purpose in the end wall 3, possible opening is indicated in the Figure by a discontinuous line and the reference No. 13.

It will be seen that in the discharge opening the wall of the package may consist of a number of material layers 11 and 12. The outer layer 11 is the patent material referred to earlier. The inner layer 12 may conveniently consist of a lining of thermoplastic material which may for example be laminated onto the strip of parent material layer when this is processed into a packaging material. Provision of a package of the kind specified with an inner thermoplastic layer has its advantages in that the material itself is liquid-tight and that it makes possible liquid-tight seals which can be accomplished in a simple way by pressing together, while heat simultaneously is being supplied, two mating material surfaces each coated with a layer of thermoplastic, whereby the coating layers fuse together along the zones subjected to pressure and heat. Should it for some reason be considered more advantageous, however, to glue together the sealing joints in such packages, this naturally is also possible. In the said packages it is also usual to provide the outside of the packaging material with a layer of thermoplastic material.

In order to prevent the jet of contents being disturbed while pouring off the pouring edge 7 of the top flap wallowing to the bulging out of the wall, the top wall surfaces of the doublewalled flap 5 which are turned towards one another are made to adhere to one another, at least in a zone at the end of the slot 8. The said adhesion can be accomplished by heat sealing in the zone in question. The extent of the sealed zone should not be less than the width of the slot as shown in the Figure, where such a sealed zone is shown by the reference No. 14. According to a special construction version of the opening arrangement according to the invention, the sealed zone 14 must extend around the slot 8. In yet another constructional version, the sealing zone is situated over the whole width of the flap 5, parallel to the end edge 6 of the package. In this case, the end 9 of the slot 8 is also parallel to the end edge 6.

In order to close the discharge opening 8, there may be arranged a sealing strip 10 to cover the opening, whereby the strip may for instance have the shape shown by a chain line in the Figure. The sealing strip, which may for instance consist of tough paper, plastic, metal foil or a combination of these materials, is attached to the package, and in particular to the area around the slot, by means of gluing, heat sealing, or some other suitable measure. In case the discharge opening, in addition to the sealing strip 10, is also covered by the thermoplastic lining, the sealing strip is attached or sealed also, or only to that part of the lining which covers the discharge opening. it is preferable if one part of the sealing strip 10 is not attached firmly to the package, with the aim of providing a flap that can be gripped, since, when the discharge opening 8 is to be uncovered, it is most convenient to remove the sealing strip from the package by tearing it off.

It is probable that modifications of the opening arrangement described and shown are possible without departing from the framework of the idea underlying the invention. The invention is not, therefore, restricted to the cases exemplified but only by the following patent claims.

I claim:

1. Opening arrangement on a package consisting of a tube sealed at its ends and preferably of parallelepiped shape with double-walled triangular flaps 5 made in the course of the sealing operation which project from the ends of the package and are folded in against its walls, whereby one of the flaps which is folded in against a side wall 2 is to form part of the opening arrangement and exhibits a sealing strip which extends onto the top end wall 3 of the package and which is intended to cover a discharge opening 8, characterized by the discharge opening being a slot formed in the upper end wall of the package which slot extends beyond the end edge 6 of the package which adjoins the said flap, whereby the package exhibits a pouring edge 7 which is constituted by the edge of the package, formed by folding, which is uncovered in the slot and is situated between the bottom wall of the flap and the side wall of the package against which the said flap is folded in.

2. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the slot 8 extends only a short distance beyond the said end edge 6.

3. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the end 9 of the portion of the slot 8 which extends beyond the said end edge 6 is parallel to the end edge.

4. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the wall surfaces in the said one double-walled flap 5 which are turned towards one another are made to adhere to one another in at least a zone 14 at the end 9 of the slot 8 formed, whereby the extent of the zone is not less than the width of the slot.

5. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the wall surfaces in the said one double-walled flap 5, which are turned towards one another are made to adhere to one another, in at least a zone around the slot formed.

6. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the wall surfaces in the said one double-walled flap 5 which are turned towards one another are made to adhere to one another, at least along a zone parallel to the said end edge 6 and extending over the width of the flap, which zone is situated adjacent to the end 9 of the slot formed.

7. Opening arrangement in accordance with claim 4 in which adhesion between the wall surfaces is brought about by a seal accomplished by the application of heat and pressure.

8. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the sealing strip 10 is sealed to the package in an area around the slot 8.

9. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein a thermoplastic film lines the package and the sealing strip 10 is sealed to said thermoplastic film covering the slot 8.

10. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. l, in which the slot 8 is rectangular and extends generally parallel to a fin 4 formed in the course of sealing the tube and folded down against the said end wall 3. 

1. Opening arrangement on a package consisting of a tube sealed at its ends and preferably of parallelepiped shape with doublewalled triangular flaps 5 made in the course of the sealing operation which project from the ends of the package and are folded in against its walls, whereby one of the flaps which is folded in against a side wall 2 is to form part of the opening arrangement and exhibits a sealing strip 10 which extends onto the top end wall 3 of the package and which is intended to cover a discharge opening 8, characterized by the discharge opening being a slot formed in the upper end wall of the package which slot extends beyond the end edge 6 of the package which adjoins the said flap, whereby the package exhibits a pouring edge 7 which is constituted by the edge of the package, formed by folding, which is uncovered in the slot and is situated between the bottom wall of the flap and the side wall of the paCkage against which the said flap is folded in.
 2. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the slot 8 extends only a short distance beyond the said end edge
 6. 3. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the end 9 of the portion of the slot 8 which extends beyond the said end edge 6 is parallel to the end edge.
 4. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the wall surfaces in the said one double-walled flap 5 which are turned towards one another are made to adhere to one another in at least a zone 14 at the end 9 of the slot 8 formed, whereby the extent of the zone is not less than the width of the slot.
 5. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the wall surfaces in the said one double-walled flap 5, which are turned towards one another are made to adhere to one another, in at least a zone around the slot formed.
 6. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the wall surfaces in the said one double-walled flap 5 which are turned towards one another are made to adhere to one another, at least along a zone parallel to the said end edge 6 and extending over the width of the flap, which zone is situated adjacent to the end 9 of the slot formed.
 7. Opening arrangement in accordance with claim 4 in which adhesion between the wall surfaces is brought about by a seal accomplished by the application of heat and pressure.
 8. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein the sealing strip 10 is sealed to the package in an area around the slot
 8. 9. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, wherein a thermoplastic film lines the package and the sealing strip 10 is sealed to said thermoplastic film covering the slot
 8. 10. Opening arrangement in accordance with patent claim No. 1, in which the slot 8 is rectangular and extends generally parallel to a fin 4 formed in the course of sealing the tube and folded down against the said end wall
 3. 